Nutritional practices and health status of health care workers in Makhado Municipality of Limpopo Province, South Africa

Abstract

Background: Health care workers spend 80% of their time daily at work and workplaces are sedentary settings for many workers. Energy-dense food and beverages are commonly consumed, resulting in increased overweight and obesity, which are health-risk factors, especially for non-communicable diseases. The study aimed to describe the nutritional practices and health status of health care workers in the Makhado municipality. Methodology: Cross-sectional survey design using a quantitative research method was applied. Study participants were health care workers who were registered with professional boards and working in the health facilities at the Makhado municipality. A total of 336 health care workers were randomly selected from 25 health care facilities across the municipality. Data were analysed by description and inferential statistics using version 2020 of the statistical package for social sciences. Results: The current study indicates that 62% of total participants was obese, 26% was overweight, 18.2% had body fat percentage in the overweight range and a total of 67.6% of participants had a total body fat percentage in the obese range. More than two-thirds (at 72%) of total participants had waist circumference above normal. Biochemically, there were disorders of blood glucose, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein among participants. The majority of female participants and 45% of male participants prepared their meals and they usually ate home-prepared breakfast and lunch while at work. About 60% of participants in both groups ate three meals a day, and 34% of male and 27% of female participants ate food from takeaway restaurants once a week. Above half (at 54.1%) of female participants and 39% of male participants had very good lifestyle habits. The majority of participants in both groups had fair and poor nutritional knowledge (with male = 80.7%, female = 83.6%). Conclusion: The majority of participants had acceptable nutritional practices, except 30.1% of participants who skipped meals. Health status is of high concern because very few of the total participants had normal weight. The majority of participants had abdominal obesity and there were participants with disorders in biochemical and clinical parameters.